[ROM Hack] Touhoumon Heartgold Nuzlocke

All pokemon has been replaced with puppets with unique moves, typings, and abilities. So, why not do a nuzlocke of it?

The rules for the Nuzlockes are the same for the most part with the following exceptions:

• I can't swap out any puppets with the PC unless: I need an HM to travel, the swapped puppet is a shiny, or the puppet is fainted. Once they're on the team, they're on the team.
• Event puppets (trades, giveaways, etc) are separate from encounters, though with trades the puppet must have been captured in an encounter beforehand.
• Max amount of puppets per area, no matter if they're events or shinies or encounters, are 4 (the max tags on a Heartgold puppetgear map).
• Eggs are counted on where they hatch rather than where they're received.

I really do love the puppetgear map though, very good functionality in terms of keeping track of things. Y'know, besides posting on here.

So... Here we go! I'll update y'all soon enough.

It all starts when Maribel (player character) decides to take on a little journey.



I am too, Ethan. I am too.



Like any Heartgold Nuzlockes, I go to Prof Elm's place to pick up my first puppet. My choices were Chibi Reisen (Heart), Sanae (Faith), or Alice (Reason) And so I chose...



Alice! Or as I named her, Margatroid! My first puppet. This one has an alternate ability called Doll Wall (think Thorns) but my pull was unlucky, so Magic Barrier it is.

Hopefully she won't die anytime soon.

As with Heartgold, I don't receive any puppet orbs to catch more puppets until I've returned to Elm's place with the egg, so none of the encounters until then counted. But you know who I DID meet?



This guy!

With his CReisen!



Luckily the magic barrier prevented him from drawing out the battle, and since I was Level 6 by the time I returned to Cherrygrove, I have beaten him handily.

So who was that guy? Well, I've forgotten to take that screenshot, but I've named him...

Zun, the creator of Touhou.

Cause why not?

And so, with my Margatroid happy and the egg delivered, Ethan taught me how to catch puppets. I set out on Route 29, eyes bright and cheerful, to catch my first-



Ah.

Right.

They're level 2 and I'm level 7.

...

Well, no matter! I was still confident that I will have my first caught puppet! Nearby!

So I head North into Route 46, and guess what I find?



Kyouko the Yamabiko!




I named her that, too. A Beast-type puppet, so pretty strong against Faith and Ghost. I hope she stays for a while longer.

Eager to train her, I went North through Cherrygrove and found another puppet to catch.

This time, it's a rat.



Romhack or not, can't be a pokemon game without a few rats thrown in.

Yamabiko did good against Joey, Tackling his rat until I had to switch out to Margatroid. Though, I was too scared for her to face the other trainer's Aya (Flying is strong against Beast) so I switched her out just to be safe.

Entering Route 31 and the Dark Cave, I caught two other puppets for my team:

Shizuha the Goddess of Fallen Leaves, known for painting leaves in time for Autumn,



and Kisume the... Um...



Bucky is shy, alright?

She is based on a tsurebebi in the original games, but in this early stage form, she's just a bucket. With eyes and hands.

That's normal.

Anyway, I went on towards the second city: Violet City. This place is beautiful, and my puppets agree with me. But, to go against the Gym Leader Falkner, I shall need other team members and my first TM: Flash (Faith). This is not a normal move, and you'll see why in a minute. To attain it, I must climb the Sprout Tower and prove my worth against the elder. I tried and failed to catch a Chibi Misumaru, and slowly my puppets and I strengthen ourselves as we climbed higher up.

Until finally, we see that weird red-haired boy Zun leave the tower for me to challenge the elder!



Not gonna lie, Shizu wiped the floor with them. Like, she absolutely crushed the elder. And the reason why is that with her Modest nature, she maximises her Sp Attack in exchange for her Attack. For a puppet that mostly has Sp Attacks and high in that stat, this is extremely useful.

I pray to Shizuha that she never faints.

With that done, I finally have Flash (Faith), and look at this:



That's powerful right there, especially so early in the journey.

Taught to three of them: Shizu, Rattus, and Yamabiko. Now they have the quite powerful moves.

And now, to try to catch my sixth team member. I went down to the Ruins of Alph for there's a certain god that resides there, a secret god. Once I used the rope and solved the puzzle, I went for my first encounter... And it teleported away.

Damn you Okina.

But, no matter. It's still early in the journey after all. Going into Route 32 (that's currently being blocked by some weird guy that insists you get a badge first) I found my full-team finisher: Orange the youkai-that's-named-that-since-her-hair-is-orange!



There's a reason why she's called Orange. I named her Citrus.

And with that, I have my full team of Chibis:

• Margatroid the Alice
• Yamabiko the Kyouko
• Rattus the Nazrin
• Shizu the Shizuha
• Bucky the Kisume
• Citrus the Orange

Next time, after grinding to level 12 is done, I shall head on to challenge Falkner. Hopefully, no tragedies befall me before then, but we shall see.